EPA Administrator to Step Down

Lisa Jackson, the top administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has issued statement this morning announcing her resignation from the agency following close upon President Obama’s state of the union speech late next month. Jackson was appointed by Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2009.

In her statement Jackson said:

There is much more on the agenda: air pollution, toxic chemicals and children’s health issues, redevelopment and waste-site cleanup issues, and justice for the communities who bear disproportionate risk.

Jackson and the EPA have not enjoyed any recent popularity with industry groups, particularly energy producers. Tighter carbon dioxide emissions rules have hit the coal mining companies, stricter mileage requirements for new cars — though developed in concert with the auto industry — will certainly come under pressure, and a continuing study on the impact of hydraulic fracturing — fracking — for oil and natural gas (due in 2014) is sure to anger either proponents or opponents of the practice.